What exactly is Regeneration like to the Doctor?

I thought it curious that Ten should, while his regeneration was pending, talk about it being like death and a new man swanning off; after all, when he first appeared, having regenerated from Nine, he told Rose that he was exactly the same man (as Nine, with a new face.

Well, it's sort of like a rebirth, so it's probably as painful as labour. The reason they're getting more explosive over time is due to the repeated trauma from the large number of accumulated regenerations, sort of like a recurrent/worsening perineal tear...

Enjoy your dinner, folks!

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Now we know why there is a limit to regenerations. If a Time Lord goes beyond 13 say good bye to your favorite galaxy and it's closest three neighbors.

There's been all that talk in "The Parting of the Ways" & "The End of Time" about whether or not the Doctor will still have legs or a head when he's done regenerating. And yet, all of the other Time Lords we've seen have been very human-looking. Here's my theory: Regeneration requires some effort and it's really dangerous. If you don't do it right, you end up deformed, possibly permanently. You can have some control over it but that depends on your degree of skill. When the Master did it in "Utopia," he just kinda went for the idea of being younger. The Doctor, of late, keeps trying to turn his hair ginger but is so unskilled that he just kinda has to settle for what he gets and focus most of his mental energy on the basics. Romana had more control over her regeneration because she is more skilled but it's still dangerous. (I mean, you could accidentally cut your own throat while shaving and bleed to death but it's a very minor risk if you know what you're doing.)

As for the change in personality, I think the brain ends up essentially the same. However, it's kinda like stuffing all of his memories into a bag, shaking them up, and spilling them out again. It's the same contents but in a radically different configuration.

When the 9th Doctor regenerated in a giant shower of CGI sparks, at the time, I attributed it to his body expelling all of the time vortex energy that he absorbed from Rose. But then they kept using that effect, so now I don't know. (Especially since, when I try to come up with rules for the Doctor & the Master, I realize they they don't necessarily account for River.)

I for one like the Doctor 10 philosophy, and perhaps it is only in those final moments that he can see the truth of it. He popped up and felt great but it isn't like 9 was there to argue the point. Its like asking Tom Riker if he misses being William Riker and then asking him if he would be willing to split again and let the new schism version of him go on living his life.

I thought it curious that Ten should, while his regeneration was pending, talk about it being like death and a new man swanning off; after all, when he first appeared, having regenerated from Nine, he told Rose that he was exactly the same man (as Nine, with a new face.

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I think Ten was a little bit precious and narcissistic about the whole thing, which is not entirely out of character. I'd wager that if the tenth Doctor ever met the eleventh, they would have a Second/Third relationship.

I thought it curious that Ten should, while his regeneration was pending, talk about it being like death and a new man swanning off; after all, when he first appeared, having regenerated from Nine, he told Rose that he was exactly the same man (as Nine, with a new face.

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I started Doctor Who with the Ninth Doctor and this is how I had always interpreted regeneration...."same man, new face." I was never really comfortable with Ten's explanation of regeneration in his last episode.

On a different note, I don't think the Eleventh Doctor has that dread of regeneration. In the episode Let's Kill Hitler where River poisons The Doctor, he goes back into the TARDIS to locate a cure. When he learns there isn't one is says something along the lines of "fine, I'll just regenerate then." Maybe were are going back to the "same man new face" philosophy?

I felt that the Ninth Doctor's explanation was geared more to reassure/placate Rose. The Doctor lies, we know that for certain. He obviously wasn't the same man with a new face. Same memories, yes. But a very different personality and temperament. He was being unusually frank with Wilf. Just my take on it, and I may be over-rationalising a tad.

I thought it curious that Ten should, while his regeneration was pending, talk about it being like death and a new man swanning off; after all, when he first appeared, having regenerated from Nine, he told Rose that he was exactly the same man (as Nine, with a new face.

Click to expand...

I think Ten was a little bit precious and narcissistic about the whole thing, which is not entirely out of character. I'd wager that if the tenth Doctor ever met the eleventh, they would have a Second/Third relationship.

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OF course, 10 was also doing this in part because RTD wanted Tennant's departure to be A Big Deal to viewers and to tug on our heartstrings.

Re the Ten-Eleven dynamic, I liked a scene when Eleven appeared in The Sarah Jane Adventures. SJ asked him how his predecessor went - he didn't really reply, just fixed her with this look. Which could have been interepreted in several ways. But I got the impression that he didn't want to think about how Ten went, for various reasons.

I think the reason 9 said to Rose he would be the same man but with a different face was to comfort her, and she wouldn't freak outas much. But 10s philosiphy is probably the most honest, seeing he was the only doctor to die without a companion (apart from 7-8 but he was not awake for most of it, and we didn't see 2-3s. I think Tennant is definately the most human doctor, probably why he's my favourate.) I always enjoy watching the regenerations, especialy 10s, I hope smiths regeneration is really epic.

I thought it curious that Ten should, while his regeneration was pending, talk about it being like death and a new man swanning off; after all, when he first appeared, having regenerated from Nine, he told Rose that he was exactly the same man (as Nine, with a new face.

Click to expand...

I think Ten was a little bit precious and narcissistic about the whole thing, which is not entirely out of character. I'd wager that if the tenth Doctor ever met the eleventh, they would have a Second/Third relationship.

I thought it curious that Ten should, while his regeneration was pending, talk about it being like death and a new man swanning off; after all, when he first appeared, having regenerated from Nine, he told Rose that he was exactly the same man (as Nine, with a new face.

Click to expand...

I think Ten was a little bit precious and narcissistic about the whole thing, which is not entirely out of character. I'd wager that if the tenth Doctor ever met the eleventh, they would have a Second/Third relationship.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't have so much minded the 10th Doctor being so precious about the whole thing if it didn't seem like that attitude also passed on to many of the fans. Even after more than 2 years, there are still lots of new fans that seem unable to switch gears from Tennant to Smith. (But then, it seems that most of those are female fans, who have... other reasons for preferring Tennant.)

I thought it curious that Ten should, while his regeneration was pending, talk about it being like death and a new man swanning off; after all, when he first appeared, having regenerated from Nine, he told Rose that he was exactly the same man (as Nine, with a new face.

Click to expand...

I think Ten was a little bit precious and narcissistic about the whole thing, which is not entirely out of character. I'd wager that if the tenth Doctor ever met the eleventh, they would have a Second/Third relationship.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't have so much minded the 10th Doctor being so precious about the whole thing if it didn't seem like that attitude also passed on to many of the fans. Even after more than 2 years, there are still lots of new fans that seem unable to switch gears from Tennant to Smith. (But then, it seems that most of those are female fans, who have... other reasons for preferring Tennant.)

I think Ten was a little bit precious and narcissistic about the whole thing, which is not entirely out of character. I'd wager that if the tenth Doctor ever met the eleventh, they would have a Second/Third relationship.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't have so much minded the 10th Doctor being so precious about the whole thing if it didn't seem like that attitude also passed on to many of the fans. Even after more than 2 years, there are still lots of new fans that seem unable to switch gears from Tennant to Smith. (But then, it seems that most of those are female fans, who have... other reasons for preferring Tennant.)

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Because of the rumor Billie Piper Started?

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I was thinking more of just his general hipster handsomeness but whatever.

Shoot, in some ways I've never quite "switched gears" from Tom Baker and I never even saw the show until 1982, a full year after Tom had exited the series.

But back on topic, actually, I rather imagined it like something akin to a more permanent form of multiple personality disorder, one where the former personality never resurfaces (unless, of course, the series ever pulls a casting stunt by bringing back a former actor).

I started Doctor Who with the Ninth Doctor and this is how I had always interpreted regeneration...."same man, new face." I was never really comfortable with Ten's explanation of regeneration in his last episode.

On a different note, I don't think the Eleventh Doctor has that dread of regeneration. In the episode Let's Kill Hitler where River poisons The Doctor, he goes back into the TARDIS to locate a cure. When he learns there isn't one is says something along the lines of "fine, I'll just regenerate then." Maybe were are going back to the "same man new face" philosophy?

Click to expand...

Maybe its similar to how someones perceptions and opinions about death may change? The doctor might just not really be sure what actually happens to him during regenerations. He might just think about it differently from incarnation to incarnation. So if 9 was absolutley sure that he would still be the same guy after regeneration, just different looks and a bit different personality...I don´t see why 10 couldn´t feel different about it...and think of it as actually dieing as a "soul" (for lack of a better term) and a new soul beeing born that gets his memories.